There was an old owl that lived in an oak. The more he spoke the less he heard. The more heard the less he spoke. Why can’t we be like that wise old bird? My mother used to say this to us when we were very young. My sister Brenda must have listened closely because she was just like that wise old bird. She was careful of the words she used, never gossiped and she never lied. She never said yes too fast or no too slow. She was the perfect example of what I wasn’t.

I always struggled with the probability of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. I call it a disease of the mouth. You might think I would have learned when I was confronted by a girl name Bertha on the school playground back in 1998. It was a frightful moment in my life.

“Wha cha tell those boys I always eat one whole chicken by myself for?” Paper clips, pencils and what looked like a chicken bone flew from her book bag when she slammed it on the ground at the foot of my petrified feet. How would or could I ever get out of this one. My mind told me to run but the feet wouldn’t move. If you get me out of this one Lord, I’ll never say such a terrible thing again. I had to think fast and decided to help myself really quick by lying like I never lied before which only led to one more sin to be forgiven. I didn’t learn easy. I seemed to always be in the middle of a “He said, she said, you said.” How could I become more like my sister, avoiding gossip and such? Somebody HELP me.

James 3:8-9 reads But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;

Mmm, I thought to myself, it’s like a fire out of control. I wouldn’t be able to contain it by myself. I needed help from God. And so I prayed this prayer. “Lord take my tongue and control it and use it for your Glory only.” And as simple as that, he did it for me.

That wise old owl was ever so smart. I’m sure he must have known the same God that I did.

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